We completed a marathon!

What a strange Saturday, the entire day felt like we were waiting for something big. We were, we were going to not sleep tonight and walk for 26.2 miles. Over the last few months we have definitely put in the training hours. What started as a relaxed day, ended up with a quick dash to the station because the train we wanted was delayed. A perk of not sleeping overnight, I had a coffee at 9pm before we got to Clapham Common and Moonwalk city, a huge pink tent, where we met Jo. It felt like a festival.

In the pink tent, we had to navigate the 17,000 people sat on the floor to get our dinner, organic pasta or rice and carrot cake. Pretty tasty, I wasn’t hungry one iota but it was one of those times that you had to get it down. We then had a very long wait, from nine to after migdnight. Lots of speeches, including one from HRH the Prince of Wales and then the warm up which was quite fun. What we didn’t realise is that we would going to have a warm up for every departure phase, and we were one but last. There was such a great atmosphere when we cheered and waved every group off. The minute silence before we walked was emotional, remembering why we were walking today.

At 12:21, Ali, Jo and I crossed the start line in the freezing cold, strong winds and rain. This was going to be an endurance challenge! For the first 8 miles we crawled due to the weight of the crowds, you just had to go with the pace of the group. What didn’t help was the bottlenecks at Battersea Park, Chelsea Bridges and along the South Bank. It was hard to keep your motivation in the wind and rain, when you were stood waiting to get through a tiny gap. This meant that the half marathon was done in 6 hours, when we usually take 3-4 hours. I was tour guide, pointing out Millbank Tower, Shakespears Globe, St Pauls. Walking up the Mall to Buckingham Palace was wonderful, 5am being a great way to doing sight seeing, nobody in your pictures. At Horseguards parade we hear birds waking, the sun was rising.

Mile 8-14 we hit the wall. It started with a very long wait for the four portaloos, the wind picked up and the rain just kept falling. We must have been there for over half an hour, with the buses whizzing behind us and we got chilled to the core. Conversation slowed, it was getting tough, our bodies wanted to sleep. Walking into MacDonalds was a sea of pink and plastic ponchos but there was nothing for it, nature called. Time was creeping on so  much, Jo went on to ensure she got her coach in time.

Ali and I trundled on, eating the wonderful things in our bum bags. Mile 15-20 was super quick, we were on fire. I did get super excited walking along Kings Road and looked out for the cast of Made in Chelsea. After 20, we slowed, everyone looked in so much pain, some were really bad. We passed people being picked up in the emergency vehicles, people looking frozen solid. The volunteers were amazing, cheering you on every step of the way. At mile 26 though I started welling up and getting super emotional that we were almost at the end. I’m not built for this, but did it, raising over £500 for breast cancer research. We held hands and walked over the finish line….done!

I’d have to say, Moonwalk City was a bit of an anti climax, by the time we got there (10 hours, 45 mins), it was just a field but gosh putting on the flip flops felt good. We waddled to the tube, people looked in agony going down the stairs.

Could Jo and I have done that years ago, nope. Ali has run marathons but over 10 hours on your feet in wind and rain is definitely an endurance. Would I do it again….never.